The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

red pill junkie, Mexico city — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:35:43 GMT

"Zork signal"... LOL!

I wish the best of lucks to the SETI crew in trying to decipher the mistery of the Wow! signal. I also applaud Paul Allen's patronizing of such important endeavours as the search of ET and opening the final frontier to the common man.

Although I do get the feeling that the procedures of SETI are somewhat akin to bushmen trying to use smoke signals to communicate with men living at New York...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Wower — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:50:13 GMT

Wow!

-30-

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

brenda farra — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:11:32 GMT

hopefully we hear it again, we all know we're not alone! have seen something in the sky that still has me wondering and was quieter than a mouse! good luck and never give up.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Louis Snyder, Houston, Texas — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:41:55 GMT

An infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewritters and sooner or later Hamlet or at least the gettysberg address is going to be printed. Doesn't mean Shakespeare or Lincoln is doing the typing...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

james graham, SAn Francisco, Ca. — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:08:59 GMT

I hope we never find life out there we can't eat for it is likely then they will eat us.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bryant Stateham — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:24:13 GMT

What get's me is that no one in this story has contemplated the idea that perhaps the signal was alien---but not from a planet.

If you were doing long-range exploration, wouldn't you use satellites? Or automated space ships?

Too bad the technology in '77 wasn't capable in searching for moving objects within the solar system.

But on the other hand, knowing what little we know of quantum physics and it's poosibility to create devices to communicate I would be surprised an advanced civilization would still be using ordinary radio waves to make a long distance collect call.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

COSMIC WOW — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:39:37 GMT

COSMIC WOWS!!!!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

red pill junkie, Mexico city — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:12:58 GMT

I just read this on the 30th anniversary report of the Wow signal:

"The Big Ear radio telescope (which detected the signal in 1977) was destroyed in 1998 by land developers who purchased the land on which the telescope was located from the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, in order to convert a 9-hole golf course into an 18-hole course and to build aproximately 400 houses on the land that they had purchased."

Typical! :-(

PS: Am I the only one who thinks golf is a nasty "sport"? You ever cared to think how many water these fields consume annualy?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

CB Rollins — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:51:00 GMT

I believe, to not believe is a seriously arrogant thing consisdering the size of the universe. Keep it up!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Mark G. Huntsville, Alabama — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:37:14 GMT

Beyond Zork!!

The odds are against us being alone. I really hope that in my lifetime we canfine some concrete evidence of extraterrestrial life.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

robbie withey, new bern,nc — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:44:46 GMT

mathematical odds suggest the cosmos should be teeming with life, consider the sheer enormity of the universe. the wow! signal could be centuries old. the photos we see of other galaxies are like looking back thru time upwards of billions of years so we don't know what they should look like currently. civilizations could have come and gone and we would never know of their existence. hopefully someone out there, as curious as we, would have sent more than one signal and it would be a shame if we missed the call. keep listening guys!! they are there...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

mproebstle, wabash, in — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:30:33 GMT

It was Elvis, leaving the planet...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

tom, nyc, ny — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:31:42 GMT

It was Elvis saying goodbye...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Charlie Kersey, Orlando, FL — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:48:44 GMT

And interestingly enough, the next day, Elvis "left the building" for the last time... coincidence... I think Not!

Happy WOW Day!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

andy, bangor, me — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:50:10 GMT

It's a streetlight.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

M Hinkson, Tobago (Caribbean) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:59:03 GMT

Interesting stuff! It really is conceited to think we are alone... and while it is understandable that scientists must err on the side of caution, their direction is always toward ruling out all possibilities rather than keeping an open mind. Wow can't easily be wiped off the slate, or it would have been. This is fascinating, exciting, hopeful.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bajaron — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:21:43 GMT

Don't worry, we are not alone. The God of the Bible is with us and always will be. And we don't need the SETI Institute, a lot of time and money or the Allen Telescope Array in California to find him.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

TheFallibleFiend LORTON, VA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:22:24 GMT

Reminder that you can help at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Essay — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:49:51 GMT

I'm surprised the "Elvis has alien baby" fans haven't made the connection - this was obviously planet Xzyble calling Elvis home! (Elvis Presley died on the same day this signal was detected. Coincidence? I think not.)

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Samuel D. G. Heath, Ph. D. Bodfish, CA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:58:48 GMT

It may be Michio Kaku was correct in surmising other civilizations if they existed may have reached our stage of nuclear development and destroyed themselves. The "Wow" signal may have been a dying gasp, much like some hear the voice of a departed loved one.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Melissa — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:06:09 GMT

Great work! There had to be something out there, and I'm so glad scientists are working on projects like this. Very cool!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

JC, Baltimore MD — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:21:11 GMT

whats the use if we never tried? It's good that we as humans never stop asking those questions that got us to where we are today. What's out there? How do I get there?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bill Walters, Huntsville, AL — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:28:48 GMT

Has anyone considered putting a radio telescope in orbit to listen for faint signals? Seems to me that terrestrial interference might be enough to drown out the faintest signals. Afterall, its a long way across the galactic pond.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

John — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:40:20 GMT

I didn't realize this happened the day Elvis died.

hmm.....

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bob Hauler — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:46:38 GMT

Maybe "wow" was a loopback from the 1974 signal, like an echo or a deflection. Was there a significant nuclear test type event at the time of "wow"? Didn't Elvis pass on in 1977? "Wow".

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bob Hauler — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:47:43 GMT

When you search again will you account for cosmic drift?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

AlienIncognito, Roswell, NM — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:48:22 GMT

Don't worry about the transmission. It wasn't from another planet. Trust me. AI

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Robert Park — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:49:11 GMT

It is not a co-incidence that Elvis went under cover that very same day!!!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Steve M Ontario, Canada — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:50:08 GMT

We all know they're out there some where! Good luck and keep looking!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Scott — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:06:07 GMT

I dont know if the WOW signal is extra terrestrial in origin, although I hope it is, but who really knows. Its hard to imagine that we are alone on this spec of dust in space (man thinks he's so special) so the signal could be what we're looking for. Of course how far away is its origin? The senders could be long gone by now. :)

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Sam — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:06:29 GMT

The truth is out there!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:21:09 GMT

WOW and Elvis dying the same day - a coincidence ???

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

sharon, WDC — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:35:18 GMT

Thirty years ago today! It was probably Elvis going into the wild blue yonder

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

uwe fruendt — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:36:54 GMT

did you take in to consideration, that WOW may have been a spaceship, on a flight in deep space, getting into trouble sending a SOS to its home planet. which was picked up over here , at the same time causing the WOW effect

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Mark Smyth, San Mateo, CA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:49:05 GMT

Conspiracy theorists may like this one: Perhaps this signal was Elvis going home! Same day as his death 30 years ago. Hmmm? Who knows? ;-)

I hope we hear something again as I believe we are not alone. Too arrogant of humans to think we are the ONLY life forms in the universe.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Steve, Chicago, IL — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:12:31 GMT

"If we are alone, it sure seems to be an awful waste of space"...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Frank, Dallas, TX — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:18:00 GMT

SETI is often criticized as being pseudoscience because it seems to have beliefs in it that are not testable hypotheses - famously, the Drake equation.

However, that is a superficial argument. If you take the negative hypothesis "Aliens do not exist" it would indeed be falsified by the discovery of aliens. Also, you can take a problem and break it down into pieces: "There are non-Earth originating artificial radio signals from Sun-like star systems within 50 light years of Earth" is a testable hypothesis. If proven false, expand the search to Sun-like stars within 60 light years. Then 70, and so on. Eventually you will either observe the entire Milky Way (and stumble across new scientific discoveries along the way, which alone justifies the money spent on SETI) or you will find alien radio signals. Either way you will expand humankind's knowledge.

The pity of the "wow" signal is not that the event was never duplicated - its that we don't understand what it was. The antenna that recorded it, by the way, was torn down to make way for a golf course. Ah, Progress.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Jeff Okkonen — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:28:56 GMT

Ahh yes...those of us in New york are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to true communication with bushmen...after all, bushmen are generally honest.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Al Walsh, Huntington Beach, CA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:50:28 GMT

It took 30 years, but we're finally going to see an appropriate response to this significant event.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

B Bell — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:57:31 GMT

30 years ago today Elvis died---perhaps this "WOW"
mystery was Elvis's last concert on his way out of the earthly realm!.......the sounds of a dying star.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Ray Godin - SLC, Utah — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:01:31 GMT

I have an intuition that we will be Wow'ed again in the near future, but only when the Wowers feel that we are ready.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

bill steigerwald, middletown, de — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:11:02 GMT

That Wow! was Elvis leaving the planet.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Curt — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:15:01 GMT

I support continuing the various SETI projects but I must say that it is disappointing not to find anything compelling. The Wow signal is probably Not from an alien civilization, simply because in my opinion where there is one signal, after 30 years of listening there would surely be another of some sort. And I believe in viewing such things with a healthy skepticism until there is additional evidence. On the other hand I believe that there must be life and probably intelligence throughout the universe. I agree with the idea, "If in the vastness of the universe, we are alone, what a terrible waste of space."

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Dave the I.T. Guy — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:16:26 GMT

Since Earth took 4.5 billion years to evolve sapient tool-makers (us), it seems to me that our section of this galaxy is probably open territory.
There is probably carbon/water-based life wherever conditions are right, but finding evidence of other sapient tool-makers is highly, HIGHLY unlikely.
But if Seth Shostak and the rest of the SETI crew want to keep scanning the sky for radio signals, there's no harm in that.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

blankspace — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:39:58 GMT

Science, when done openly & honestly, without bias or social and political suppression, can indeed produce Wow moment.

Was it some random alien signal or a more mundane terrestrial one? Who knows.

But if it drives an entire species to discover more of the Universe, to discover (even inadvertently) amazing truths, then that is the real Wow! moment.

Thanks for making me raise my head out of the daily routine. Suppose its time for me to put it back down & plow.

Good luck.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

red pill junkie, Mexico city — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:01:42 GMT

"The "Wow" signal may have been a dying gasp, much like some hear the voice of a departed loved one."

So Samuel D. G. Heath, you're actually proposing that
the Wow! signal was an Andromedan yelling "D'ough!" after his tentacles hit the wrong button? ;-)

PS: To all you Graceland boys linking Wow! to the King: Thankyou for making my day start with a laugh!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Bob Rutherford — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:05:21 GMT

Stupid!....waste of money

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:12:35 GMT

After essentially glossing over his own report, it's obvious Ehman went to amazing lengths to make definite conclusions about the source of this signal. It's funny that inspite of that, there is no conclusion. Much like trying to determine if life ever existed or exists on Mars! No matter how much hardware and carefully designed robots you send, there is no conclusion that is an absolute yes or no answer.

Ehman considers spent space vehicles in earth orbit as reflective sources of possible harmonic signals but didn't mention discarded stages from Apollo or other planetary probes at the time. It could be possible (although very improbable) that a rocket stage that far in space could satisfy his criteria of low rotation rate and little change in position relative to fixed stars. Can you imagine that a spent rocket stage just happen to come into line of sight for some 72 seconds far out in space? I can't because I suspect the energy of the reflected harmonic would be too small. I believe it was of an ET source. But so what? It's just a belief.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Nunya, Earth — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:14:37 GMT

We here, with our very limited imaginations, assume too much about what an alien civilization would be. The truth is that we know almost nothing about the nature of the universe or how life begins and evolves. In order to advance, we have to keep searching for answers. This is human nature, and part of the reason that we've advanced as fast as we have. We've not allowed ourselves to become stagnant. Our lives depend on us advancing and solving problems i.e. "Will this pointed stick help me kill prey better without injuring myself", "If I use this 'basket' thing I made, maybe I can carry more nuts and berries." I hope they find an answer for the Wow signal. But most importantly, when they do, I hope the answer brings with it a whole new set of questions that we would never have thought of.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Tabula Rasa — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:26:05 GMT

Back in 1977 there were more reports of alien messages other than the Wow signal-- check out this link.

http://www.ideocast.com/archive.asp?aid=10158

Also this link

http://www.ideocast.com/archive.asp?aid=10101

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Gphillip, Houston, TX — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:39:25 GMT

I don't think we'll find extra terrestrial intelligences for the same reason that we haven't observed proton decay, or gravitons or magnetic monopoles or the Higgs boson, or for that matter haven't been able to fit string theory into only one time and three spatial dimensions. It's really simple if one stops to think about it.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Rob, Phoenix, Arizona — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:43:02 GMT

We have no way of knowing how alien time differs from ours. The WOW signal could be hundreds of alien years worth of radio signals that may only last a few seconds here on Earth.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Wikipedia — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:54:17 GMT

SAPIENCE, usually defined as wisdom or discernment, is the ability of an organism or entity to act with judgment. Judgment is a mental facility that is a particular form of intelligence or may be considered an additional facility, above intelligence, with its own properties. Robert Sternberg has segregated the capacity for judgment from ordinary meanings of intelligence, which is closer to the sense of clever than to wisdom. Good judgment in making decisions about complex life or social decisions is a hallmark of being wise.

The word sapience is derived from the Latin word for wisdom, sapientiae or sapientia. These are related to the verb sapere, which means 'to taste' but with the sense of tasting the meaning of life. It is generally interpreted in the English-speaking world as meaning to be wise, and the present participle forms part of Homo sapiens, the Latin binomial nomenclature created by Carolus Linnaeus to describe the human species. Linnaeus had originally given humans the species name of diurnis, meaning man of the day. But he later decided that the dominating feature of humans was wisdom, hence application of the name sapiens. Strangely, it seems that he did not consider the idea whether humans were just another kind of animal when choosing this name, instead basing his selection on contemporarily deep religious convictions that man was a product of special creation. Thus, his chosen biological name was intended to emphasize man's uniqueness and separation from the rest of the animal kingdom.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Marty Mucha, Greenville, SC — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:54:09 GMT

As a fundamentalist Christian I would like you to consider the possibility that God made the sound to display the foolishness of those who do not not seek Him for answers to what is beyond our mortal grasp and understanding. But then again it could also be satan doing this to lure the non-believer even further away from the only Truth in the universe, the Word of God (The Bible).

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Nolan — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:15:50 GMT

Was the "WOW" signal simply detected? Or was there something recorded? If the signal was recorded it should have been fully analysed by now. One hypothesis that scientists don't seem to be taking into consideration is "non-intelligent" lifeforms that might have naturally evolved the ability to communicate with radio waves. For example perhaps giant space whales that eat comets are belching out long distant radio mating calls. As funny as it may seem ... you can't deny the possibility.

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Elvis — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:18:02 GMT

It was me folks, ah huh. Peace out and all that.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

VaLyn, Idaho — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:27:48 GMT

Is this where all of our tax dollars are going?

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Loren, SF Bay Area, CA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:37:26 GMT

Hmmm...I thought for a second it said "Alien Telescope Array..."

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Jack, Asheville NC — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:02:21 GMT

Gods, angels, magic, UFO's, aliens and other supernatural superstitic ideas are all the result of our human primal fears bubbling to the surface. Smart/cunning people use these fears to control entire populations. It's time to grow. We have real human problems that can be solved if we use our fertile minds together with our combined talents.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Homes, Hon High — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:19:42 GMT

All very interesting stuff, I’d love to know if anyone was out there too…. But, don’t we have bigger problems on earth? Imagine if we spent more time/money looking for a way not to kill our planet and control overpopulation? These two problems will be the end of us much sooner then when we find any sign of alien life in the universe… cease killing each other, feed the hungry, stop over population and then worry if ET is trying to phone home. What good is evidence of intelligent life if we kill ourselves off by the time we find it?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Dennis McClain-Furmanski, Dalworthington Gardens, Texas — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:38:59 GMT

An answer, an observation and a question:

Answer: For Bill Walters, yes, people have considered and even accomplished putting radio telescopes in space. Satellites such as COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) are exactly this. The completely protect a satellite from Earth based interferences, people have suggested putting a dish or array of antennae on the far side of the moon.

Observation: Skepticism is is supposed to be keeping an open mind and being willing to axamine all data and hypotheses regarding a phenomenon. Unfortunately people too often claim to be doing this, when they are in fact purposefully and deliberately disbelieving, and jumping to a conclusion as fast or faster than the most intent cultist believer. The fact that they jump to an trivial explanation does not make them correct, it makes them jump from question to answer without evidence to support their conclusion. To justify this, they claim to be applying "Occam's razor", the idea that the simplest explanation is the most likely true. In response, I say (1) scientifically, that's not true; compare Newton's and Einstein's theories of gravity, and (2) metaphorically (but based on reality) Willam of Ockam had a beard.

Question: What do radio telescopers mean by "channel" and how do they measure and calculate them? I know what I mean, and that comes from TV channels. These are frequency ranges with some arbitrary label (such as 'channel 3') attached. Radio telescopes can have millions of simultaneous channels. They can't have millions of little devices each chugging away at a piece of signal. The power, space and heat dissipation problem would require something else. How are they doing this in terms of hardware and analysis? I have suspicions (previously Fourier transform, now wavelet transform) but I can't find the answer defined, so I'm going to remain a skeptic about my hypotheses.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:45:10 GMT

Most people who comment on this won't even take some time and read over Ehman's own report and then comment. The link is included above. You can even skip the very technical stuff and still come away with a sense of the mystery. To me it's akin to "beyond a reasonable doubt" when ALL the facts are weighed.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

a p garcia — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:27:00 GMT

The truth is out there-Elvis. Saw you on B5.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

John Brady — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:10:08 GMT

"WOW", ET do not use standard broadcast radio, they use Quantum Entanglement, the WOW part com's from the Front poarch, back poarch, of the standard radio modiglated Quantum signal, the Quantum part, can not be recorded, it is just a one shot deal, you trap it in your Quantum traps, or you lose it, the signal was ment for us and nowbody else. When we bild a Quantum radio the hole Galaxy wil light up with chatter.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

DaveH, Cincinnati OH — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:15:38 GMT

Knowledge is gained by looking. SETI may not be the right answer, but if they were not looking we'll never know one way or the other.

As to the 'WoW', sooner or later it will either be Proven or Dis-Proven, however that can not be done either way by opinion without supporting fact and evidence. It was 'something', but so far there as been nothing offered by either side that confirms or denies what it was. Let us keep looking, investigating, and researching till we find an answer.

For the 'Graceland Crew' - I work with a guy who was born the same day that Elvis died... Re-incarnation anyone??

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

James Anderson Merritt — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:59:06 GMT

Don't trust any WOW over 30.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Don Pointer — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:55:20 GMT

We sent only one signal and it was to an area way the heck off. Totally non-productive, that one. Why not send a signal every month right to the area where the Wow signal was detected? Who's running the place, anyway? Some politician?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Des Emery, St. Thomas, ON, Canada — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:10:58 GMT

We humans always grasp at straws because we have opposable thumbs operated by inquiring minds. But the billions and billions of planets that Carl Sagan hoped would predict the existence of intelligent alien life can be there without supporting any kind of life at all.

The 'germs' of life may be hurtling around through space but may never find an hospitable place to land. "Earth now" is not the cradle that "Earth then" was. Less water, more oxygen, no moon, other differences. Germination cannot take place under the circumstances of present existence,or it would be happening all the time. Special conditions are required for life to form and other special conditions are necessary for life to evolve. So, we are alone.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Michael — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:55:57 GMT

"SETI is often criticized as being pseudoscience because it seems to have beliefs in it that are not testable hypotheses - famously, the Drake equation.

However, that is a superficial argument. "

I guess it depends on your view of the universe. Certainly people who believe they are somehow "gods special people" or some such have a hard time dealing with the idea that maybe they are not so special. Personally,I think we are just a particularly clever animal that evolved from a soup of chemicals. As far as we know,the universe looks about the same in all directions and we know the same physics holds everywhere. It would therefore be surprising if life didn't crop up elsewhere. If that is in fact the case,why not intelligent life. As far as I know,there is no reason to think that our planet is unique or unusual. Therefore I expect to find similar things elsewhere.

It is in fact true that we don't KNOW that these assumptions are true. It could be that our planet is a really really odd one,the exception rather than the rule,but considering the similarity between mars and earth,and the fact that we do in fact know that there are lots of other stars out there that are very similar to ours,it seems a stretch.

Finally,as for the Drake equation,its structure is sound,what we don't know are the values of most the constants. As such,the error is very large.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

A laframboise Edmonton Alberta Canada — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:11:52 GMT

could it be possible that the signal was lensed from a different direction

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Chris K Shoal Lake — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:37:17 GMT

What really amazes me is the fact that we as human beings have a hard time believing that there's other intelligent life out there. We have been here for only thousands of years whereas the universe has existed for billions of earth years. People! wake up and smell the coffee, We've been watched since the beginning of our technology and even further. We are just beginning to undersatnd our own technology and haven't tapped into what type of technology is out there. we still live in the stone age.
We need to understand that we were never alone. Just not aware.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Gilretz, NGC 1672 quadrant C-03, Ilon system — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:54:17 GMT

Incoming message: Hodwrakai srreak zangra fils sil hennenai sulbaach grinkatal sidle haffa-sah xus pool hissy schranlana hei.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Eamonn Trainor, Albany, New York — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:07:16 GMT

I fel very certain about two things related to this story. Firstly, life most certainly exists outside the Earth. It's probably in all different stages of development and may be very far away, if you are talking about intelligent, technological life. The probability of life not existing beyond the Earth is too small. Secondly, action always speaks louder than words. If we don't try to listen for signals then we most surely will never hear them. Therefore it is very important to keep scanning the skies, if only to help improve scientific techniques at the very least. If we keep trying then we will eventually be successful. There is nothing like intentional willpower to stay the course. I happen to strongly believe that the Wow signal might very well have been transmitted by an intelligent extraterrestiral source. Although I don't believe in any of the UFO reports made so far.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

thomas Haberthaler — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:02:32 GMT

If we were able to advance in our video technology and capture a UFO on film, possibly of some advanced sort, that would be better than anything we have now. there is so little concrete. we need foolproof, concrete evidence.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Ed Little — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:05:48 GMT

Did anyone ever consider the strength of the many mega-watt signal that the HAARP project is sending out to who knows where?
Is there an entity who would be willing to do some basic research and check to see at what area of the sky HAARP was pointing at each time it has been turned on? Also what type of signals were sent and when..
I suspect that one of HAARPs' unmentioned duties may be to reply to a "wow' type signal.
HAARP homepage.
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Ed Little — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:16:02 GMT

Its not a stupid waste of money! And please remember that the maestro who conducted a symphony of the forces of nature Nicola Tesla also reported receiving anomalous signals from an unknown source.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:37:07 GMT

Laframboise, Edmonton.

He speaks of that in his own report...

http://www.bigear.org/Wow30th/wow30th.htm

One argument against that was posted here is subtle and strong. How can we think that an ET signal from a distant world would represent a time sequence exactly like ours??...72 seconds is exact and based solely on the earths travel around the sun. However, there are periodicities in natural elements such as cesium and I guess natural materials such as quartz (how does a quartze crystal watch keep time?) that vibrate the same where ever in the universe. I suppose electronics works the same here as "there" ..why wouldn't it? Electronics is indelible and behaves according to universal principles that even an ET can't get beyond.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Steve Carlisle, PA. Earth — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:40:18 GMT

Perhaps looking in the same area of space is why we haven't heard from the source of the signal in question! Given earths movement within our solar system, and our solar systems movement within our galaxy, and the movement of our galaxy and other stars in other galaxies as well, I'm wondering if all that movement has been considered in determining where the point of origin of the original signal is now in relation to us now. Everything has moved considerably from where it was 30 years ago in the grand scheme of things, hasn't it? And what if that original WOW signal in fact came from a craft that was just traveling through that area of space that we were focusing our attention on at that time? It is pointless to be still looking for the same or similar signals from the same point in space as the original signal if it had in fact come from a transient source that just happened to be in our "sights" at that particular moment in time when we heard the original and only WOW signal! It would be comprable to finding the same single grain of sand as one that you had thrown into the ocean thirty years ago! If you had thrown that single grain of sand into the ocean from a ship in the middle of the ocean, would you begin your search for it 30 years later by going to that same spot in the ocean to begin looking for it? Given the movement of all celestial bodies throughout the universe that is supposedly still moving and expanding outward, not to mention the movement of the celestial bodies within each galaxy, I'd think it would be virtually impossible to find that same signal again, especially if we are looking at the same relative area of the sky if we haven't taken into consideration all the movement that has taken place in the 30 years since that first signal was initially detected!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Susan, Ajo, AZ — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:40:33 GMT

I'm not against looking for signals - no harm in that
but meanwhile there is beautiful artwork on Mars,
the Moon and Titan. I know, you haven't "heard that" from a "credible" agency like NASA - so therefore I must be a nutcase.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/
p/069/2P132498747EFF1800P2288L6M1.HTML

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Pelvis Ressley, Grand Rapids, Michigan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:49:49 GMT

Hey, here's an original idea! Maybe it had something to do with Elvis dying that same day. Boy, am I smrt...I mean, smArt!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Matt Hart, Columbus, Ohio — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:09:53 GMT

I remember visiting the Big Ear and talking to Dr. Krauss in the late 90's. To bad the site is now a golf course. Pretty sad...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Redoubt — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:46:47 GMT

It may be that we’ve been ‘quarantined’, so to speak, by some galactic magistrate and strictly OFF LIMITS to direct contact. Let’s face it, we ARE the kind of neighbors that others would build tall fences to isolate.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Scott in Herrin, IL USA — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:23:56 GMT

Maybe there will never be a "moment of global disclosure or mass confirmation"...they are just letting us each know in many small ways that they are here until we all know inside our own mind even without a public discloser

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Jerry E. Barta, Gila Bend, Az. — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:59:53 GMT

Who has the time to read these comments?
Extraterrestrials?
Or those of us who have too much time
versus sense.
I'mjust thankful the sky is still there,
we've screwed up everything else.
jb

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

sean, santa monica, ca — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 19:01:12 GMT

Seems strange that we would only send out a signal for 3 minutes but hope that an extraterrestrial race would send a steady signal for 30 years straight. Hopefully they are smarter and more considerate than we are.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Chris Eldridge, HBG PA — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 19:46:29 GMT

I really wish I was able to participate in this thread but my home computer is totally bogged down with viruses (despite having protection). Ug...

It's not a leap of faith to think there is other intelligent life out there as even moons and the moons of free floating planets are likely to harbor some kind of life as Titan, Enceladus, and Europa have shown it's at least possible. Given what we know is possible with space based interferometer telescopes able to see the cloud cover and mountain ranges on other earthlike worlds around other suns, you can also assume that they certainly could know we are here. Thus, this short simple ping could be like a tap on the shoulder. Just enough to awaken us to the possibility yet not enough to challenge any religious views we might have. I think it could be just such a proprietary message that allows those who believe to work harder without upsetting those who cannot stand the idea of other potentially intelligent life. Until life on earth has a clear winner, a race that has secured itself enough to be 99.99% beyond any chance of extinction or self-annhilation, they will remain silent towards us. If they were to interfere now and give us technology it would be like interfering in evolution. But if we can make it to a point where our survival over the eons is guarenteed, then I think they would be obligated to contact us as by that time any extra technology wouldn't make any difference.

Sorry for the late response!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

michael addicott, silicon valley, ca — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:27:50 GMT

I found and interesting report on "contact" and the societal implications in an adobe pdf from bellevue,wa based foundation for the future. A serious inquiry into "what happens when seti succeeds" - there's a link to the pdf

http://blog.cognitivelabs.com/2007/08/when-seti-succeeds.html

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

John Roache, Upper Kagel Canyon, California — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:19:16 GMT

Has any other cosmic event occurred in that general area since the Wow! incident other than via a "radio signal" and if so, when would we "see" it, if that were the case? ie. A star exploading or some other burst of energy?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Isaac Caret — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:50:44 GMT

Why scan the aether for signals? They've been here all along right under our noses. Here is a pdf that sums up the entire case.

http://tinyurl.com/yp2usw

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Wesley, Toronto, Canada — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:08:03 GMT

Maybe sooner or later they will get tired of all those wayward McDonalds', Gap, JC Penny, Sears, Apple Ipod Ad's from our inferior satillites..... And we'll get a giant.. "Shut the flark up!" Sent back to us in the form of a intergalactic ray beam!

Naturally we'd deserve it.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Rob H — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:35:31 GMT

Considering the Drake equation, I think we can say with a degree of confidence that there is in fact other life in the cosmos. The big question then is "do they taste like chicken?" The next question is, of course, "are they asking the same question?" -R

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Stanton Friedman, Fredericton, New Brunswick,Canada — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:30:44 GMT

It is truly amazing that SETI specialists continue to ignore the enormous amount of evidence that aliens are visiting Earth and proceed on the basis of no evidence at all that signals are being sent our way using techniques that we can predict and employ.See my challenge to SETI Specialists at
http://www.stantonfriedman.com

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

tom, phoenix, AZ — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:53:28 GMT

I see the snicker giggle factor, designed to trivialize, is alive and well here. Exactly the sort of thing any TV news coverage would have slipped in at the end. "OOOOO maybe it was Elvis, hee hee hee hee. Now on to the weather." What will it take to make it stop?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

susan Milford, Iowa — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:37:48 GMT

Return to sender...address unknown...no such number...no such phone...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

pj, graterford, pa — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:39:39 GMT

"An infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewritters..."

What's a typewriter???

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Greg Martin, Bethesda MD — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:26:11 GMT

What if it was a civilization from a planet that is eclipsed by its star for some 35 years. Perhaps in 5 years it will re-emerge and the signal will resume.....

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Eyes Wide Open, Michigan — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:46:28 GMT

Open your eyes and minds a little...

You folks accusing those who come on here presenting their ideas about intelligent design and the uniqueness of our planet, as being too narrowed-minded and ignorant of "scientific facts" are the same ones who are casting off any possibilty of the Bible being correct and factual regarding the uniqueness of earth and life on earth. You are more ready to believe that some mother ship is thousands of light years away planning a "first-encounter" resembling the likeness of "ET" to the extreme of "Independence Day" with the human race...

hypocrites!!

I, for one, am not ready to cast off ideas that other "earth-like" planets exists and there could be some kind of object/matter/energy out there sending us some signal or interference. The Bible does not contradict these statements (actually, the Bible pioneered such ideas as there being other planets, with God, Himself talking about other "worlds" he created; and even the psalmist mentioning the "circle of the earth" far before Columbus travelled the atlantic!

However, I am more of a pesimist regarding the issue of the WOW signal. I think most of you have seen a few too many episodes on the Sci-fi channel and probably couldn't even derive the equation for relativity which you so religiously hold to fact!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Pastafarian — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:48:44 GMT

The Wow signal was not your God, it was the Flying Spagetti Monster. He Farted.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Dennis, Richmond, VA — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:52:24 GMT

Rob H - Mind if I steal that line? I love it!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

C.Vern Rock, Galveston, Texas — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 02:58:34 GMT

It is arrogant of us to assume that we are the only ones worthy of God's notice in this universe. The diversity of life on Earth alone should attest to the myriad of possibilities of life in the universe. Every day, scientists are finding new life in the most hostile of environs here on this planet. So there is no doubt that there should be and is life beyond our petty little world.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Peter Melchett — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:58:12 GMT

God, UFOs and other absurdities... please make them stop. Don't you understand that talking about Elvis is unfunny after the first time? There is no such thing as God, it is an old invention to explain the unexplained, that's all. The Bible is simply a transcription of rules and history passed down by oral tradition for only one particular society of literate elites in an overall preliterate population.

When we do get a verifiable signal from a truly alien civilization, 'The Torah/Bible' and all it's various lunatic spin-offs (Quran, Book of Mormon, etc.) will go right in the museum with the rest of the mythologies.

Growing up is hard, take your head out of the hole and look up.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Mark, Richmond VA — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:30:14 GMT

Funny how many folks get so excited about this that me just mentioning the likelihood that the machine was "tampered with" (or "bumped into" by someone...oops) to cause the malfunction (so as to draw all this attention and mass publicity) I'm sure will create a lot of discontent toward me. But before you get mad, just think about it...

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Tim, Ca — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:40:04 GMT

I am an advocate of Isaac Asimov's vision of the cosmos from 'The Foundation' series. Nothing of any advanced degree of evolution was found.

The Drake equation is missing a very important component. The number of planets with a stable environment over a few billion years for evolution to create a sentient life form. This brings the possible outcome well below 1000 in all of the cosmos. Not a very likely chance of finding ET, ever, if they are out there.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Thomas Haberthaler North Charleston, SC — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:53:45 GMT

I don't believe we are alone. I don't see any reason not to believe Betty and Barney. A large number seem to tell true stories about extraterrestrial experiences. Maybe they just don't like to land often or be seen often fearing that they may be carjacking victems given the crime rate down here.
Let's face it, lets say a grey walked down the road here. How long would it be before it were captured and someone attempted to make money off it. I feel that they're intelligent and don't want to end up a victem and a statistic. Human beings steal from and kill eachother all the time here. The greys must think what would happen to them, since they aren't exactly human and have no rights on this planet.
Welcome to the wild, wild west.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Larry Reuben — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:27:22 GMT

I can't help but think about what albert Einstein said: "The reason God created an infinite universe was to keep enough distance between us"

If we can't learn to live with each other, then how are we ever going to get along with a civilization more advanced than our own?

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

JB — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:04:11 GMT

Have you ever known of any technologically advanced culture encountering another - which was not so advanced - that did not conquer the weaker power? Competition is innate among most organisms with which we are familiar. Why should one expect otherwise outside our solar system? If they can get to us, they will likely, eventually, be our downfall; or, rather, our eagerness to be contacted will be. We would probably be better off spending our energies improving communication amongst our own species, since we don't even get along with each other . . .

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

TheFallibleFiend, Lorton, VA — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:26:33 GMT

"I am an advocate of Isaac Asimov's vision..."
Asimov was telling a story; he wasn't advocating a specific scientific world view.

"The Drake equation is missing ... The number of planets with a stable environment over a few billion years for evolution to create a sentient life form. "

Uh ... no. It has that embedded in 4 other variables
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

i.e., fp * ne * fl * fi

The problem with the Drake equation is that we can only guess at most of the variables. OTOH, with time and improved understanding, we at least know what variables we need to look for to get better accuracy.

We could look at Drake equation as a sort of Fermi problem, except that Fermi problems anticipate that at each stage of a long computation you are just as likely to overestimate as to underestimate. It seems all too likely that people using the equation will use estimates of each variable that are in general agreement with what they already want to believe.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

TheFallibleFiend, Lorton, VA — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:33:51 GMT

"I don't see any reason not to believe Betty and Barney."

Inconsistencies in their reports, the fact that the "star chart" was vague and useless, that Betty believed in a lot of other kooky crap. There isn't a single good reason to believe their story.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Dick Sanford, Kailua-Kona — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:56:55 GMT

What a great license plate! If you had an omniscient, peaceful society out there would you want to contact us? Violence is a contagious disease of the youth, be they human or a society.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Gary Feierbach, Belmont, California — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:43:24 GMT

I have read several discussions of the "Wow Signal" and have several thoughts on the subject. First, there was some pretty sloppy science done and the ascention was revised several times over the years and who knows if the final figures arrived at several years later are the final ones since the Big Ear is now a Golf Course. Second, Most of the follow up searches used the original incorrect coordinates. Third, if the signal was from a radar on an alien spaceship then we wouldn't expect it to be repeated and such a radar would probably have an extremely narrow beam so the likelyhood of it being aimed at us is quite remote. Given enough of these spaceships one would expect to "see" them once in a while if you look long enough in the right direction. Forth, an argument was advanced by Dr. Ehrman that it couldn't be a terrestrial signal since the FCC does allow anyone to operate in the 1420MHz region since it is reserved for Radio Astronomy. This is naive for at least three reasons 1) The Physics department at Ohio State or industries nearby may have been experimenting with that frequency band, 2) It could have been a harmonic of a 2 meter band Ham Radio in a private plane. 3) It could have been a hoax (scientists usually hate to think that there are people out there that do that sort of thing but I know for a fact they do since I've done similar things. Also, remember Uri Geller at SRI and the Piltdown man in the UK.)

I wouldn't rule out terrestrial orgin on the basis of "We've ruled out all the other possibilities". That depends on having an unlimited imagination or omniknowledge neither of which any of us are gifted with.

Gary

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Darrel Hunter, Amarillo, Tex. — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:39:32 GMT

Okay, so the movie The Arrival, 1996, with Charlie Sheen, is based on something real. (Sci-Fi writer on Coast To Coast AM not too long ago ... and this ... well, I realized most are based on a real live story).

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Findley Logger, livonia, Mi. — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:41:47 GMT

Nothing more than a deep bass boom-box driving by with "gangsta" rap shaking the ground.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

dana hoecker grand junction colo — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:47:05 GMT

i cyphered your signal ,here is the first part,the sender .his name is "EFFE". you know who EFFE is right?
the second half are the frequencies they can communicate on.why you cant "hear them".the message in whole is as follows"E0112715FF5172110E" or 112.715 and or517.211.these are mgz.of course. EFFE IS GOD.!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

dana hoecker grand junction colo — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:49:13 GMT

I hope this gets you on the right track.the rest you should be able to read.hint flip and reverse doubled.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Conrad Lesson,Bude Cornwall England — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:09:54 GMT

maybe they might not be carbon based life forms. Whatever is out in the cosmos, they could be gas or metalic based life forms you never know. If you change the numbers and letters around from 6EQUJ5 to F517209E it could be a code to a point in a star system from whoever sent it. You never know

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Justin — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:42:16 GMT

What a joyously entertaining thread to read. Such a wide spectrum of nonsense and throwing around of big words.

Belief (fueled by faith) caused the dark ages and the Inquisition, both of which resulted in the loss of large amounts of accumulated human knowledge.

Science (fueled by questions) created quantum mechanics, based on probabilities, which in turn enable the creation of the little machines used to post these messages.

Arrogance? No. Mathematics.

To all the people who say "who knows, anything is possible", you are absolutely right. Unfortunately, you are also missing the point. It's not about what's possible, it's about what's PROBABLE.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Ray Kirk — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:12:09 GMT

Interestingly missing from all this is the idea that if intelligent life developed ANYWHERE in the universe, then given that it survives and prospers, it will spread out in a never-ending spherical wave to all habitable worlds it can reach, even given the cost and time constraints of interstellar travel. Again, given enough time, the universe will be teeming with intelligent life. And to assume that our, somewhat late arrival to the party is, in fact, early, is naive.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Ray Kirk — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:16:27 GMT

To fundamentalists:
Where in the Bible does it preclude other inhabited worlds? And why does searching for intelligent life in the universe conflict with religious belief?
We are not looking for religious answers from aliens. We do not have to give up religious principles to conduct this search.

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Roger Duke St Louis MO — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:19:28 GMT

the human race has only began any real search for et can only messured in decades in a playing field that is millions and millions of years old. As a specius think of all that we have done in say the last 200 years. Then think about where we could be at an ever increasing speed of development in say the next thousand or 10 thousand years. Now think about a race that has been developing for more than a millon years. They may have stopped using radio waves along time ago. We might have so litle in comnon with this specius that they might not even be aware that we exist!

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Pedro, Portugal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:48:10 GMT

too bad nobody recorded the audio signal :(

The 'Wow' mystery turns 30

Gregg Walker, Cincinnati, OH — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:33:45 GMT

so i there a 3-d map of the possible origin point of the signal? how fast was it travelling? how far could a signal like that go?